“If your skies are very clear and dark, allowing you to see faint meteors, your rates could top 100 per hour,” Robert Lunsford, of the American Meteor Society, told Space.com. “Observers located in the western portions of North American will have lower rates but will also have the opportunity to see Quadrantid ‘earthgrazers.’”

“Earthgrazers” are meteors that skim through the upper layers of the Earth’s atmosphere. As a result, their tails can appear longer. But to view them you need to look close to the horizon, a situation that could prove tricky if light pollution is a problem in your area or you lack a good vantage point.

The Quadrantid radiant (i.e., the point in the sky at which the meteors appear to radiate from) lies in the constellation of Boötes, below the handle of The Plough (a.k.a. the “Big Dipper”).

The meteor shower gets its name from Quadrans Muralis, a constellation that is no longer recognized by the International Astronomical Union. Quadrans Muralis was originally created in 1795, but is now split between Boötes and Draco.

This particular shower is thought to come from the husk of a long-extinct comet. Comet C/1490 Y1 was discovered by East Asian astronomers in the 15th Century, but it has disappeared. However, SETI Institute astronomer Peter Jenniskens has since discovered that the orbit of an asteroid named 2003 EH1 follows the path of the Quadrantids.

One possibility is that the meteors’ source is 2003 EH1 — a mile-wide asteroid that was once the nucleus of C/1490 Y1.

So, for the opportunity to spot the remnants of a long-extinguished comet, wrap up warm and get outside late Tuesday and the early hours of Wednesday. Look toward the northeastern horizon and try to find the Big Dipper. You may spot the most spectacular meteor display of 2012… or you might not — such is the unpredictability of the Quadrantids.